From left to right:1. Prime eyes. I used MAC Painterly Paint Pot. I prefer my finger, but you can also use a synthetic shadow or concealer brush.2. Apply Bronze eyeshadow all over the lid using a flat shader brush. I always grab the 239 or 242 for this...The more dense the bristles the more color payoff!3. Using a deep brown, I used Bloodline pigment, and a 219 pencil brush pack the color on to the outer corner of your eye in a sideways V shape. Extend the eyeshadow a little bit further out past your lashes, this lays the groundwork for that elongated cat eye look. Bloodline is a limited edition pigment, but you could also use Smut, Handwritten, Embark, Mystery...any dark matte brown.4. Sweep a 217 or 224 blending brush all along the crease to blend out the two shades you just applied. Focus on only touching the bristles to the crease area and try not to touch the lid at all! Blend up and out to create a gradient cat eye effect. Don't over blend! Over blending will just muddle all the colors together.5. Take any small eyeshadow brush and apply a shimmery light color to the inner corners of your eyes. I used Nylon. This lightens the look and makes your eyes look brighter and well rested. If you have naturally wide set eyes you can skip this step.6. Highlight under the brow bone. I almost always use Vanilla. I prefer a matte highlight, but any light shade will do.7/8/9. Apply a black eyeliner to the top lashline, water line, and then smudge into the lower lashline with a 214 brush. I used Blacktrack fluidline, but you could also use Smolder or Feline Eye Kohl for a super smudgy smokey effect. You can also wing out your eyeliner to enhance the cat eye effect created with the eyeshadow!10. Finish with mascara!

On the second Friday of every month MAC at Saks Fifth Avenue in Westshore Mall will be hosting Girl's Night Out classes! Our goal is to bring in loyal clients who are interesting in learning technique, trends, and products. Each month we will focus on a different theme or trend. This past GNO event focused on achieving the perfect red lip and holiday eye makeup to go with it. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and learn new tricks and techniques! Feel free to email me if you are interested in attending future classes.

Here are a few photos from the event..

Bonnie and Nicole goofing off before everyone arrived

I must thank the fragrance dept. for allowing us to use such a beautiful table for our display!

Each station had a mirror and products so the guests could practice on themselves.

A few eye tutorial books that were left over form our holiday eye kits

Monica, Bonnie, and Myself

Bonnie sharing her red lip tips and techniques

Sharing my tricks for creating a fun holiday eye look

Overall it was a great success! I can not wait for next month's event!

We all get in makeup ruts. I constantly find myself grabbing for my "neutrals" palette when I'm in a rush for work and then throughout the day I'm saying "I need to wear more color." Luckily, one of my staff members (THANKS ELISA!) gave me a few homework assignments and made sure to assign me colors I rarely wear.

12/6/12:I applied Designer Purple Pearl Glide liner all over the lid as a base - The Pearlglide liners are AMAZING! They are super bright and glittery, and what girl (or queen) doesn't like glitter? You can wear them as an eyeliner, or in my case they make a great base color.Next, I loaded up a 239 brush with Young Punk mineralize eyeshadow and pressed it into the liner. This shade is equally glittery! The photo just doesn't do it justice! *Note to self: buy a real camera.*I blended out the crease with Kid eyeshadow, a neutral flesh toned brown. Doing that blended out the purple so you couldn't see any harsh lines. My highlight, as always, was Gesso under the brow. And on the inner corners I used Vanilla Pigment.I finished with Boot Black Liquid Liner and lots of Zoom Lash Mascara!

12/7/12:I started off by applying Undercurrant Pearl Glide Eyeliner all over my lid and blending out the edges, fading the color upwards past my crease. I've decided I need these in EVERY color!After that I took Spruce, a crushed metal from our Guilty Passions: Brilliantly Cool holiday kit, and applied it on the inner and outer corners of my eye with a 219 brush.Using a 239 brush I pressed Old Gold pigment onto the Pearlglide liner on the center of my lid.To blend out all of the edges I used a 224 brush and applied Kid to the crease.My brow highlight was Vanilla, and I finished it off with Blacktrack Fluidline and my usual #3 lashes.

Don't be afraid to try new things! Breaking makeup habits and forcing yourself to try new products is the first step towards becoming a successful artist!

"How can I make my eyes pop?" is a question I hear all the time. If your goal is to enhance the color of your eyes then there are plenty of tips and tricks to make that happen! Color choice is the best way to bring out your eye color. I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, but I've gotta bring it up....the color wheel. Dun dun dun...

Color theory is really very simple! If you want to make one color stand out pair it with it's opposite, or it's complementary color. For example, the opposite of blue is orange-- so copper, gold, peach, and reddish brown tones will compliment blue eyes the best. Side note: grey and black looks great on blue eyes too!

If you have green or hazel eyes clearly you don't want to wear red eyeshadow, at least I hope not! The next best shade would be purple, and any variation of it. I prefer purples with a lot of grey in them for every day use, since purple can be a bit bright for the office and what not. Try taupes, muted purples, and eggplant colors!

Brown and hazel eyed girls always look great in blues! Blue is a hard shade to wear without looking like Mimi from Drew Carey, so look for navy tones to start off and then venture into brighter shades. Instead of a black smokey eye try using an off black with a hint of blue!

Earth tones and neutrals look great on everyone, so don't forget about those "boring" browns and creams when you're picking out your new colors! Also, don't limit your options to these rules! This is just a loose guideline to help you pick colors that will compliment your eyes. There's no reason someone with green eyes cant wear green eyeshadow and so on..

I rarely wear bold, bright, colors on my eyes, so today Bonnie sat me down and we played with color!

Bonnie, workin' it

It feels so weird to be the one in the chair for once!

Not the best "after" photo, and please excuse my overly done brow. I filled it in for a photo for my previous post.She used Gorgeous Gold, Electric Eel, Stars N' Rockets, Contrast, and a purple liquid liner...

THANKS BONNIE!

I have decided that for the next week I am NOT ALLOWED to touch any of my "Neutral" Palettes. I am going to challenge myself to work with more color and less neutrals...I don't know how long that'll last!

When it comes to makeup "natural" and "neutral" are two classifications that I hear frequently. Although the terms can tie in together and describe a similar look, that is not always the case. Natural makeup defines a look that is essentially nude. Think "no makeup makeup," or "second skin makeup." The color palette includes flesh tones, or colors you would naturally find in the skin without any makeup applied. Focus on highlighting and perfecting the skin to give it a "fresh faced" look.

Lauren Conrad is a perfect example of natural makeup!

By definition neutral means "no color." A neutral makeup look could include muted shades of grey, earth tones, flesh tones, and shades from light to dark. Textures can be anything from matte to metallic. Neutral makeup doesn't necessarily need to be soft or light.

A majority of red carpet looks are kept neutral. Kim Kardashian is known for her neutral colored smokey eyes.

It may be only June, but fashion week has come and gone and that can only mean one thing: the trends for this fall are hitting the market! Come August you'll start to notice the shift in trends from spring/summer into fall/winter and I can not wait! The color palette is inspired by cool tones, jewels, sepias, and neutrals. The textures play with metallic against mattes, and the skin is velvety. Lips are red and lashes are barely there. This upcoming season is all about picking a feature and amplifying it, then softly building the rest of your makeup around it. Whether it's a strong brow, geometric liner, or intense contour, this season will put a masculine spin on feminine beauty makeup.

Jewel tones seem to make a comeback every winter, but this season the placement is different. Try mixing up the way you apply your eyeshadow and go outside of the box with where you place color. Mix matte and metallic textures, and skip a brow highlight. Light washes of shadow are leading this season's styles vs. high impact intense color

Red lips are a classic look that you can't go wrong with. The modern spin on this season's red lip is to pair it with a truly nude eye; think "no makeup makeup!" Skip on loading up on the mascara, and if you can't live without it try only applying it to the top lashes. Apply a wine or burgundy colored stain if bright red is too intense!

Graphic eyeliner gets more geometric this season. Instead of a classic winged out liner this look is more about adding structure and architecture to the face. Not quite the classic look of winged eyeliner, this is definitely more of a statement.

Brows are fuller and darker this season. Skip the tweezers and grab some clear brow gel! A fuller brow is youthful, but still strong.This season's contouring and highlighting has moved on from bronzed and glowy to cool and velvety. Creamier textures in cool browns are replacing warm bronzers, and highlights are less shimmery and more subtle. The look is all about playing with the natural shadows of the face to give depth and shape.

Although runway makeup is beautiful, it isn't the most wearable. Take this season's trends and customize them to fit your lifestyle! Work with products you have, perhaps applying them with a new technique or placing them differently. You'll be surprised with what you end up with! Don't be afraid to be a little messy or make a mistake. Makeup isn't supposed to be perfect and clean.